Andrew Bailey, Missouri Attorney General | Attorney General Andrew Bailey
By Legal Newsline
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has filed charges
against Reed K. Arnold and Hillary N. Deckard, alleging they defrauded
consumers through their business, Queen City Rod & Custom. The
charges include eighteen felony counts for stealing, financial
exploitation of an elderly person, and deceptive business practices in
Greene County.
“As Attorney General, I will enforce the laws as written and defend
Missourians from being ripped off,” said Bailey. “My Consumer
Protection Unit thoroughly investigates complaints of fraud and takes
swift action whenever we find enough evidence to move forward. Our aim
is not only to hold bad actors accountable but to deliver full
restitution to all affected.”
The allegations state that between September 2021 and January 2024,
Arnold and Deckard promised automotive repair and restoration work in
exchange for upfront payments but performed minimal or no work while
retaining possession of the vehicles for extended periods.
“I encourage Missourians to file a complaint with my office if they
think they’ve been scammed,” said Bailey. “Start by calling our
Consumer Protection hotline at (800) 392-8222 or by submitting a
complaint online at ago.mo.gov.”
Bailey reminded the public that the charges are allegations and
that defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
In Fayette County, 58-year-old Lisa Costolo faces over 1,600 felony
charges for allegedly siphoning more than $600,000 from a neighbor
suffering from dementia, as reported by WPXI.
Costolo, who was granted power of attorney, is said to have used this
position to drain the finances of Norma Scott, a widow with no children,
over two years. The discovery of this came to light through a Medicaid
application that signaled the depletion of Scott's assets.
Scott transitioned to a full-time resident at Uniontown Health and
Rehab in 2018, it wasn't until two years later that the home was
informed by Costolo that Scott could no longer cover the costs of care,
prompting the Medicaid application which returned laden with red flags,
according to CBS Pittsburgh.
The subsequent investigation by state police revealed extensive ATM
withdrawals and checks that depleted Scott's savings, actions justified
by Costolo under the claim that Scott wished for her to take care of
herself and her children.
Assistant Fayette County District
Attorney Melinda Dellarose put the situation into grave context: "Norma
Scott worked her whole life, saved, managed her money so it would be
there for her when she needed it most," she stated, as per WPXI.
The financial abuse included, but was not limited to, luxurious
purchases such as her daughter's wedding dress and various trips,
detailed by prosecutors.
The case strikes a particularly somber note as the victim, Norma
Scott, passed away in 2021 at the age of 89, never reclaiming the
financial security she had presumably entrusted to Costolo.
Costolo was arraigned Thursday and released on bail. She's due back in court for her preliminary hearing on August 14.
Arrest in Clayton County 'house of horrors' Earlier this month, Clayton County police arrested a man accused of running an unlicensed care-home in filthy conditions.
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. - Police
in Clayton County are investigating an unlicensed care home after it
was discovered that a man had been keeping 15 adults in deplorable
conditions.
Gabriel Robinson, 51, was
arrested during a welfare check by a social worker at the home located
at 336 Sir Richard Court early this month. The Clayton County Police
Department arrived, and soon other local and state agencies joined the
investigation.
Robinson faces 15 counts of neglect and
exploitation of the elderly. The North Georgia Elder Abuse Task Force
advises more victims could be out there, which could lead to more
charges.
"It's early in the investigation,
but they're saying that his criminal history and government records are
showing this is not the first time he's run this sort of a facility…this
case may, may rise even one step further to human trafficking," said
former Marietta Police Chief Dan Flynn, who now heads the North Georgia
Elder Abuse Task Force.
Flynn says
that Robinson’s charges could be upgraded if evidence supporting them
was found. He would also face more legal troubles if he profited from
those victims.
"It's not an exaggeration to call this a house of horrors," said Dan Flynn with the North Georgia Elder Abuse Task Force.
According
to the Clayton County Police Department, 15 at-risk adults were living
in horrible conditions, which include bedbug infestation and untreated
infections.
"Some of them had to be taken on an emergency level right to the hospital," Flynn said.
Jail records indicate Robinson posted bail on Thursday.
Elder care abuse and neglect: How to protect your loved one
Flynn
says that victims can easily be trapped in a situation like this. He is
working to ensure that more families avoid similar situations.
"Shows us all how easily those things that abuse and exploitation can occur," Flynn said.
He says, unfortunately, it can be all too easy for the elderly and those at-risk to be put into a home like this.
"There
are many places where hospitals and churches and other places, they
keep directories of personal care, homes to which to refer people. And
they don't often check to make sure that they're licensed and sanitary
or whatnot," Flynn said.
He suggests when
getting a referral for a care home, even from a hospital or church, make
sure to do research and make sure the home is licensed.
by Teresa Roca, Senior Exclusives Reporter & Assistant Entertainment Editor
AMERICAN Pickers star Frank Fritz has been relying on “skilled
nursing care” that will be “long-term” two years after he suffered a
debilitating stroke.
Frank, 60, has been under a conservatorship and guardianship
since he suffered a stroke at his Le Claire, Iowa home in July 2022, as
he has been in and out of the hospital and rehabilitation.
Frank Fritz, posing in front of his motorcycle collection, needs 'long-term nursing care'Credit: Coleman-Rayner
Frank Fritz, who was a fan-favorite on American Pickers, suffered a stroke in July 2022Credit: American Pickers / History Channel
MidWestOne Bank is Frank’s conservator, as his close friend Chris Davis is his guardian.
Court
papers from the conservatorship case obtained by The U.S. Sun reveal
Frank has “cash assets and credit accounts” at a separate bank.
The
Conservator’s Initial Plan filed in November 2022 stated the assets
would be transferred to MidWestOne, as they could “invest to start
generating income” to Frank.
“Since the approval of the plan, the Conservator has repeatedly
contacted [the bank] seeking access to the Protected Party’s funds,
credit card statements and income tax documents to no avail.”
The
bank “repeatedly failed to respond to the Conservator” and “refused to
provide access to Mr. Fritz’s assets and documentation, and otherwise
ignored the Conservator’s authority, the orders of this court, and the
laws of the state of Iowa.”
The court documents continued,
“[Frank] continues to rely on long-term skilled nursing care, so it is
imperative that his assets are properly managed and wisely invested to
support his long-term needs.
“The Protected Party no longer has
any need for consumer credit cards and any accounts that remain open are
susceptible to fraud, especially since the Conservator is not allowed
access to them to review charges.”
MidWestOne Bank requests, “The court should issue an order compelling
[the bank] to release all of Frank Fritz’s funds to the Conservator,
close all of Frank Fritz’s credit card accounts, provide the Conservator
with Frank Fritz’s income tax documents for 2023, and change the
mailing address for future income tax documents to the Conservator’s
address.”
A hearing took place on July 19.
The judge on the
case ordered the bank to respond to the conservator and provide access
to all bank accounts and credit cards held or controlled by Frank.
Frank Fritz's Conservatorship
Frank Fritz was placed under a conservatorship in August 2022, just weeks after he suffered a stroke.
Frank's conservator is MidWestOne Bank and is in charge of his finances
The bank agreed to invest Frank's money and collections to generate income
The guardian is his good friend Chris Davis
Chris
is responsible for helping Frank manage his Crohn's disease treatment,
go to physical therapy, grocery shop, cook and more day-to-day tasks
The conservatorship also agreed to help replenish Frank's Iowa antique store, Frank Fritz Finds
A wheel-chair ramp and more have been installed in his Iowa home under the conservatorship
“Because
of his stroke, Mr. Fritz’s decision-making capacity is so impaired
that he is unable to care for his own safety or to provide for
necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, or medical care without
which physical injury or illness may occur," documents obtained by The
U.S. Sun read.
“Mr.
Fritz’s decision-making capacity is so impaired that he is unable to
make, communicate, or carry out important decisions concerning his own
financial affairs.”
“Decisions must be made for Mr. Fritz’s care
and placement while he continues to recover and receive treatment for
his injuries.
“Appointment of a guardian and conservator is necessary to avoid immediate harm to him.”
The
Guardian agreed to help Frank with his Crohn's disease treatment, as
well as bring him to physical therapy and help him grocery shop, cook,
and more.
As for the conservator, MidWestOne filed an Initial Plan that revealed Frank’s monthly expenses.
“Frank
continues to improve daily. You’re never 100 percent after a stroke,
but he’s fine. He’s aware of what’s going on," a friend of Frank’s previously told The U.S. Sun.
"If he were sitting here right now, you could sit and talk to him. He’s the same old Frank.”
LANSING
– Yesterday, Lisa Marie Tramski, 57, of Burtchville, pled guilty in the
31st Circuit Court in St. Clair County to one count of Embezzlement of
$50,000 or more, but less than $100,000, announced Michigan Attorney
General Dana Nessel. Tramski embezzled more than $86,000 from an elderly
woman after becoming her court-appointed guardian. Tramski will pay
$51,600.75 in restitution prior to sentencing as part of the plea.
Tramski, who was charged with three felony counts in February,
was appointed in early 2018 as guardian for the victim, who died only
weeks later. About a week before the death, Tramski had the victim sign a
will leaving everything to Tramski. Despite knowing there were legal
challenges to the will, Tramski proceeded to take $86,033.75 from the
victim’s accounts. Ultimately, the probate court invalidated the will
benefitting Tramski.
“The plea secured today marks a significant step toward
justice,” Nessel said. “My department will continue to pursue
accountability for those who are unable to protect themselves and ensure
perpetrators face consequences for their actions.”
Tramski will be sentenced on Sept. 16th at 9:30 a.m. in front
of Judge Daniel A. Damman in 31st Circuit Court in St. Clair County.
(ABC 6 News) – A Rochester woman appeared in Olmsted County Court Tuesday on two felony charges of financial exploitation.
Tracy
Anne Volk, 60, is accused of using her position as Power of Attorney
for a dying senior to transfer about $75,000 to accounts she controlled.
According to court documents, three individuals related to the senior
made a Vulnerable Adult Maltreatment report after allegedly seeing
“suspicious banking transactions” show up in the senior’s account while
she stayed in hospice.
The witnesses told police they had seen
transfers from accounts with their names and that of the senior into
accounts controlled by the senior and Volk — ostensibly to be used for
bills after the senior passed away.
However, Volk had refused to
pay the senior’s outstanding medical and hospice bills — about $10,000
in total — as of February of 2024, according to court documents.
Rochester
police reviewed the senior’s documents and noted that the senior
specifically stated “I … do not authorize any of my attorneys in fact to
make gifts to themselves.”
However, police found that in June of
2023, someone transferred $55,000, then $20,000 into the account shared
by Volk and the senior.
“Volk later used Victim’s death certificate to remove Victim’s name from the account,” court documents read.
Volk is scheduled to appear for an omnibus hearing Oct. 1.
Long-Term Care Ombudsmen advocate for long-term care residents and monitor conditions and care within long-term care facilities
Casey has long been one of the Senate’s leading advocates for long-term care residents
Washington, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senators Bob Casey
(D-PA), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, and Tim
Kaine (D-VA) introduced the Strengthening Advocacy for Long-Term Care Residents Act to improve the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program, which was established under the Older Americans Act. Local
Ombudsman programs designate staff and trained volunteers as
representatives to advocate for residents of nursing homes and other
long-term care (LTC) facilities, providing residents and their families
with confidential information and assistance and monitoring conditions
and care within a facility. With a growing number of older adults
residing in long-term care facilities, Ombudsman program staff and
volunteers face challenges to ensuring residents receive the care they
deserve and have their rights protected.
“Long-term care ombudsmen are vital to ensuring that
residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have
advocates who can represent their interests and can push for better care
and conditions,” said Senator Casey. “Senator Kaine
and I are introducing this bill to strengthen the Ombudsman Program and
ensure that it has the resources, leadership, and personnel to continue
its critical work safeguarding the Nation’s residents of long-term care
facilities.”
“Older Americans deserve to age with dignity, but sadly, we
continue to see reports of abuses at nursing homes and other long-term
care facilities,” said Senator Kaine. “I’m introducing
this legislation to strengthen the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program and
help ensure that older Virginians and people with disabilities living in
long-term care facilities continue to have trained professionals able
to advocate for them, address their complaints, and help ensure they
have access to safe, quality care.”
In 2023,
nearly 5,400 Ombudsman program staff and volunteers conducted over
340,000 visits to long-term care facilities, assisting over 500,000
residents and their families.
The Strengthening Advocacy for Long-Term Care Residents Act would improve the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program by:
Instructing the Administration for Community Living (ACL) to
establish categories of duties for volunteers and appropriate training
requirements for volunteers based on those categories. Training
guidelines should reflect the diversity of volunteer contributions to
the Ombudsman program. This will make it easier to recruit and retain
more Ombudsman program volunteers and continue to ensure volunteers have
the appropriate training they need.
Reaffirming Congress’ intent that the Ombudsman program should be
led by a full-time National Director. In 2019, reorganization under the
Trump Administration resulted in the loss of this position. State and
local ombudsmen have reported that the lack of a National Director
impedes coordination and distracts from the mission of the program.
Requiring the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and
Medicine (NASEM) to study and issue a report with a recommendation for
the number of ombudsmen per LTC facility bed. This would give states and
ACL better insight into the current needs of the program. In 1995, the
Institute of Medicine (now part of NASEM) released a report recommending
a staffing ratio of one ombudsman per 2,000 beds for the Ombudsman
program. This staffing ratio has not been updated in the nearly 30 years
since and current data indicates that caseloads far exceed that
threshold.
Senator Casey has long been one of the Senate’s strongest advocates
for Americans in long-term care facilities. Earlier this Congress,
Senator Casey released a report entitled, Uninspected and Neglected,
which demonstrated the critical role Ombudsman program staff play in
safeguarding nursing home residents. In addition, Senator Casey
introduced the Long-Term Care Workforce Support Act,
a landmark piece of legislation that would invest billions of dollars
in bolstering the LTC workforce, thus ensuring those providing care are
fairly compensated and supported in the workplace. Senator Casey is also
leading the reauthorization of the Older Americans Act this year and held a hearing
in May 2024 to discuss reauthorization priorities, which include
bolstering the Long-Term Care Ombudsman program. The Connecticut State
Ombudsman served as a witness at the hearing.
Read more about the Strengthening Advocacy for Long-Term Care Residents Act here.
Bob
Dean Jr on Monday received three years of probation – along with about
$2m in penalties, court costs and restitution – after pleading no
contest to eight counts of cruelty to infirmed people, five of
healthcare fraud and two of obstruction of justice.
An undated image provided by the Tangipahoa parish sheriff’s office of Bob Dean Jr. Photograph: AP
Dean entered his plea at a state courthouse in Amite City, Louisiana,
about three years after several deaths during Hurricane Ida in 2021
were linked to the storage facility at the center of the case against
him.
Louisiana’s state attorney general, Liz
Murrill, said prosecutors had unsuccessfully asked Judge Brian Abels to
sentence Dean to least five years imprisoned and not “only probation”.
Abels technically handed Dean a 20-year prison sentence but deferred it
in its entirety in favor of probation.
“Our
prosecutors urged that Mr Dean be held accountable for his actions,
which led to the deaths of numerous elderly individuals,” Murrill said
in a statement.
“I respect our judicial system and that the judge has the ultimate
discretion over the appropriate sentence, but I remain of the opinion
that Dean should be serving prison time.”
Abels said the 70-year-old Dean’s age, lack of
prior criminal convictions and the amount he had to repay all factored
into his sentence, according to a report from the CBS affiliate WWL Louisiana.
The
outlet added that family members of people who died at the warehouse
addressed Abels through tears Monday, saying they never got a chance to
say goodbye to loved ones who were left to die at the facility.
Dean
sent 843 residents of seven Louisiana nursing homes to a squalid,
former pesticide plant in the town of Independence, about 70 miles
(110km) north-west of New Orleans, to ride out Ida as the category 4
storm took aim at the region.
With winds of
about 150 miles (241km) an hour, Ida caused widespread power outages and
other devastation across south-east Louisiana in August 2021. Residents
of Dean’s nursing homes were later found sleeping on mattresses atop a
wet floor – without access to their medicines, sobbing and lying in
their own feces.
Warehouse conditions devolved
after the failure of generators meant to provide electricity to the
facility. Indoor temperatures soared to dangerous levels, prompting
warnings from caretakers that Dean ignored.
The
ceiling leaked, toilets overflowed and there was not enough food or
water for residents who were packed in so closely it was impossible to
comply with social distancing guidelines in effect at the time because
of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Officials ultimately linked five of the 26 deaths
that occurred in Louisiana because of Ida to the warehouse in question.
Ensuing investigations determined Dean had billed the federal Medicaid
program for dates his residents were not receiving care, refused to move
clients out of the warehouse and “engaged in conduct intended to
intimidate or obstruct public health officials and law enforcement”.
Dean
later lost his licenses and federal funding to operate his nursing
homes. And in June 2022, prosecutors filed the criminal charges to which
he later pleaded no contest.
Though Abels said
Dean had no history of criminal convictions, the case resolved on
Monday was far from Dean’s only recent legal issue.
Notably, he also grappled with several lawsuits from families of those left in the Independence warehouse.
About
three months after authorities charged him, attorneys for the
plaintiffs announced a $12m settlement with Dean. A February 2023 report
from the Louisiana news outlet nola.com
reported that the families had not gotten any settlement payments,
which average about $10,000 per nursing home at the warehouse after
accounting for attorneys’ fees and other costs.
Elsewhere,
Georgia authorities charged Dean with criminal conduct after he shot
his thumb off there – and Oregon officials scrutinized him after cattle
from his ranch in that state needed to be rescued from a snowstorm,
nola.com also reported.
Dean’s attorney, J Garrison Jordan, told nola.com that his client’s plea and sentence Monday were “a fair disposition of the case, and everybody has closure”.
